Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
Oil drilling continues worldwide despite potential risks: Culinary adventurer reports on his oddest and best-loved meals; World Cup results show equality among world teams; G-8 Summit Set to Begin in Toronto; Mexican Migrants Ride 'Train of Death'; Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Chile Advance in World Cup
Aired June 25, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Handshakes and smiles all around as world leaders descend on Toronto for the G-8 summit.
But it marks the tensions at home. In France, Italy, Greece, and many others, the man on the street doesn't like austerity measures. While some say Canada's cuts in the 1990s are the template for success. Tonight, we speak with the country's finance minister at the time for some answers.
On CNN, this is the hour we CONNECT THE WORLD.
Well, as world leaders gather in Canada this weekend, we ask, are the measures to fix the global economy enough? I'm Becky Anderson in London.
Also tonight, the last in Karl Penhaul's series of reports on Mexico. As the drug war continues, we look at the lessons that country can learn from Colombia.
And two heavyweights of football clash at the World Cup. Highlights from the Brazil-Portugal match as well as the latest results live from South Africa. And I've been asking you why you think Europe's great footballing powers are on the wane. I want to hear from you. My Twitter address is @beckycnn.
Well, the World Cup may be front and center in many fans' hearts, but the fragile global economy is center stage in Canada. World leaders meeting in Ontario as Prime Minister Stephen Harper officially opens the G- 8 summit. The G-20 summit follows later this weekend, and Poppy Harlow tells us how the global gathering could, just could impact both you and me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): ... kicks off this weekend in Toronto where leaders from around the globe will talk about the common denominator that gets everybody's interest: money.
It's happening at a time when Europe is tightening its belt in the midst of a debt crisis. Germany plans to cut its budget deficit by 80 billion euros by 2014. And the U.K. raised its national sales tax while freezing salaries and cutting welfare.
GEORGE OSBORNE, BRITISH FINANCE MINISTER: This budget is needed to deal with our country's debts. This budget is needed to give confidence to our economy.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... milestone on the road to recovery, the 10,000th project launched under the Recovery Act.
HARLOW: Meanwhile, President Obama is calling the season "Recovery Summer" as the U.S. continues to spend in hopes of lowering unemployment, which is still hovering around 10 percent. A policy gap of hundreds of billions of dollars is sitting somewhere in the Atlantic. But for now, it looks like these countries have agreed to disagree on their economic policies.
So what are the consequences of that disconnect?
COLIN BARR, SENIOR WRITER, FORTUNE: There is not a risk right now of the whole thing splintering. But right now we've devolved from real coordination, which we did have during the crisis to something where everybody is looking out after their own interests. If you really have a lot of tension on these issues and people believe that the global leaders are not being supportive of one another, you could -- yes, you could definitely see, you know, other smaller, seemingly less important things break down.
HARLOW: But the IMF calls the fiscal differences, quote, "overblown." And those seemingly less important things are pretty big deals. China recently announced adjustments in its currency under pressure from the international community to re balance its economy.
CAROLINE ATKINSON, DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS, IMF: What's clear is that not everybody can export their way out of trouble. So you -- we need to have internal growth in many countries.
HARLOW: And on financial reform?
ATKINSON: Regulators should work together so that whatever institutional arrangements you have in different countries, it makes sense and there is not scope for competitive fight for the least good regulation.
HARLOW: One size may not fit all countries when it comes to bank reform. But citizens of all nations are looking for real coordination so the G-20 this year will be remembered.
Poppy Harlow, CNNMoney, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: So financial recovery and reform are expected to dominate these summits. But will world leaders agree on what to do? Let's bring in CNN's Ali Velshi from Toronto.
Ali, the World Bank is going to have one eye on the World Cup this weekend, but the other firmly on this meeting. Should they be concerned, do you think?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're at a different place than we were a year-and-a-half or two ago where the world was sort of going in one direction all together, and there were certain things that had to be done. Those certain things were central bank and government stimulus, throw lots of money at the problem, replace the spending that consumers weren't doing.
Now we're in a very different place and different countries have different views as to how to emerge from their various points of crisis. In the United States, Barack Obama is trying to encourage governments to keep that central government's spending -- that stimulus spending going.
There are problems in Europe, though, in countries that are in greater debt-to-GDP ratios than the United States, as where they want austerity measures. Britain, with a tighter budgetary constraint, these are disagreements as to how to proceed.
So what I think this G-20 is going to be important for is for the world to come together and say, look, we still have to work in a relatively coordinated fashion, even though our specific needs, particularly those between the United States and Europe are different at this point.
And that is going to be where the challenge is. There will be broad agreement on things, but there is not going to be specific agreement on whether everybody should employ the same techniques to try and stop a double-dip recession and try and foster economic recovery -- Becky.
ANDERSON: All right. World leaders having to work out how they pay off their overdrafts. Meanwhile, private bankers and the banking industry as a whole hoping that they won't be reformed out of business, as it were. Will they be?
VELSHI: Well, there are a couple of things on the table. One is a bank tax around the world that will raise money to fund possible failures of banks. A lot of countries are against that, including Canada. The other one is a requirement, a capital requirement around the world.
One of the triggers for our financial crisis was over-leveraged banks, banks that take in X amount of dollars and then risk many times that. And there's a sense that there should be better leverage. One of the interesting things about G-8 and G-20 being in Canada is that Canada, very much like the United States in many ways, has a substantially stronger banking system.
I know you're going to be talking to Paul Martin, former prime minister of Canada, but better known as a remarkable treasurer of Canada, who kept banking restrictions very conservative and very strict in Canada. And as a result, this country didn't go through the mortgage crisis that the United States did.
There is a real sense that if banks shore up their capital, it will help us stave off this kind of problem again in the future. That will certainly be discussed. And it will be at the top of agenda during G-8 and G-20.
ANDERSON: All right. Ali, look forward to your reporting from there of the weekend. Thanks for that. (INAUDIBLE) Canada no stranger, as Ali says, to tough financial reform and spending cuts, as he mentioned, in the 1990s.
The Canadian government launched what was then an ambitious program of austerity measures under then-Finance Minister Paul Martin. He presided over a huge drop in Canada's debt. It plunged from more than 101 percent of the country's gross domestic product in 1996 to just below 65 percent in 2007.
Now public services were cut by 20 percent, and welfare rates slashed dramatically. When I spoke earlier to the architect of that austerity program, Mr. Martin and many Canadians furious over the billion dollar price tag they're footing for the G-20 and G-8 summit.
So I started by asking him if he were to sign the checks for the summit if he was still prime minister, this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL MARTIN, FORMER CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER & FORMER MINISTER OF FINANCE: Well, you know, those numbers are incomprehensible to me. I've certainly attended a number of summits. And as finance minister, I financed them and I've gone to them as prime minister.
And I just certainly do not understand these numbers. Not only that, but they went up dramatically in the last couple of months. And of course, these things are usually prepared well ahead of time, so no, those numbers are not acceptable.
ANDERSON: Fascinating stuff. All right. Let's talk about your austerity experience. What do you think the lessons are from your experience for others at this point?
MARTIN: Well, first of all, I don't think there is a cookie-cutter approach here. You know, you've got this debate now that people talk about between the United States and Germany. The fact is that you've got to cut and you've got to cut at the beginning. And I think that Mr. Osborne made a very good start.
But, you know, if you cut too much at the beginning, then eventually what happens, you slow your economy down and your deficit goes up. If you don't cut enough, and then what happens, of course, is there is no confidence out there and your deficit goes up.
So it's a question of balance. You've got to cut, and you've also got to make sure that your economy is -- continues to roll along. And I think that's a question of balance, and it's one that can't be determined by any sort of edict universally. It's one that's going to be decided country-by- country.
ANDERSON: All right. Who has got it right at this point then?
MARTIN: Well, I think we will find out. I think that -- I think, as I mentioned before, I think the U.K. has made a good start. But we really won't know until -- you know, until a year or two are out.
I think that the single most important thing is that you've got to keep your people with you, your population with us. With that -- what happened in Canada, we spoke for a year before I came down with our big budget. And then we measured it year-by-year. And it was those yearly targets that we beat in every case that basically said that once the cuts start to come in, once you start to feel the cuts, that people stay with you.
Because if they -- the single most important thing is, you're asking the sacrifice, they don't want to see that sacrifice be in vain.
ANDERSON: The Angela Merkels of this world are looking and thinking about what is going on at the moment. And thinking, is this a career- destroying moment? Is it for her, do you think?
MARTIN: It isn't. As long as you win the battle. If you're winning the battle, then I think that you'll find that people will stay with you and in fact they will be very happy.
ANDERSON: What is the hope for countries like Greece and Spain in terms of convincing the public, sir, that this is really justified? Or do you think the damage has already been done?
MARTIN: Well, I think that the Greek problem was very difficult for the -- for a new prime minister to come in and have to basically say that his predecessors had not told the truth about the numbers and then all of a sudden, you know, just simply throw that out in front of his own people, that's a very, very tough thing that he had to do.
And I think that you've got to really congratulate him for the courage that he has shown. But, as I say, you don't do this thing overnight, and you've got to bring the people on-side. He had a much -- you know, a much deeper hole to climb out of than any of us did because the fact the previous government had not told the people what the truth was.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Paul Martin speaking to me earlier. The experience, perhaps, all of us might take heed of as we move through the months and years ahead.
Up next, impoverished Mexicans ride the "train of death" in search of a better life. The results aren't always what you'd call a storybook ending. It's all to escape the madness of the drug wars. Tonight, the connection, what Mexicans can learn from their southern neighbors.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Poor and desperate, it has been the focus...
(AUDIO OBSCURED BY VIDEO SOUND)
ANDERSON: ... of our special reporting from the country from (INAUDIBLE), our correspondent Karl Penhaul. First, he showed us how Mexicans risk life and limb to escape and catch a ride on a train bound for the U.S. border. But it's called the "train of death" by some, "the beast" by others.
As Karl continues his look at the flood of Mexican immigrants headed north, he shows us what happens to those who ride "the beast" but end their journey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wheels that mutilate limbs and cut short dreams.
RUBEN PEREZ, MUTILATED MIGRANT (through translator): I was clinging on and my leg spinning around in the wheels. The train finally spat me out, but I was afraid to let go because I no longer had my legs. I let go and rolled. I cried for help and then passed out.
PENHAUL: Mexican migrant Ruben Perez rode the so-called "train of death" two years ago. He was trying to grab a free ride on the cargo train through Mexico and planned to cross illegally on foot to Texas.
But both his legs were severed.
PEREZ (through translator): I felt like a dog that was dying and was worth nothing.
PENHAUL: The former builder's laborer still seems overwhelmed by sadness. But he has received treatment and prosthetic legs at this hostel run by Olga Sanchez, a guardian angel to dirt poor, mutilated migrants.
OLGA SANCHEZ, HOSTEL FOUNDER (through translator): I laugh at the American dream. Sometimes the American dream turns into hell. It's a dream floating in the clouds. Not everybody can reach it. Instead they suffer a tragedy.
PENHAUL: Most Sundays in Tapachula, on Mexico's southern border, you'll find Sanchez at the cathedral door, vying for space with beggars and the odd drunk from the night before. She is selling two dollar bags of home-baked bread to scrape together cash for $2,000 a time prosthetic limbs.
Today's takings is slim. Sales have bread have dropped because of the rain, she says. Sanchez, the daughter of peasants with no medical training, started helping undocumented migrants 20 years ago. She says it was her promise to God after recovering from a life-threatening illness.
Thanks to some international donations and her own fund-raising, she says she has helped more than 5,000 amputees convalesce. She has never forgotten the very first.
SANCHEZ (through translator): I remember Balthazar. I picked his bones from the track. He was dying, clinging to life by a thread. I said to him, remember, you have a wife and children. Remember, you have to go home for your family. I was carrying his bones in my blouse. I was all bloodied.
PENHAUL: The cargo train rumbles out of Otajaga (ph), a town not far from Mexico's southern border with Guatemala. The migrants' journey north to the U.S. border will take days. Poverty, and the pursuit of the American dream drive them all.
But for those whose dreams come to a tragic end, Sanchez pledges she'll be there.
SANCHEZ (through translator): To me, someone who is dirty and has nothing is the most worthy. I will always defend the ones who have nothing, the dirty ones, the ones left behind.
PENHAUL: The ones left behind when I visited, included an elderly Mexican with an infected leg, a young Guatemalan temporarily paralyzed by machete-wielding attackers, and another Guatemalan shot by thieves.
And in the shade, quietly watching life go by, newly arrived Marcos Castro, a Honduran teenager. He had fallen under the wheels of the train a month earlier. All he had wanted was to get a job as a tree-cutter in Texas.
MARCOS CASTRO, MUTILATED MIGRANT (through translator): I was hanging on to the train but my sneakers slipped and the train was moving fast. I hung on but was only hanging on by one hand, and I had to let go.
PENHAUL: I ask him if he still thinks he'll make it to America some day.
CASTRO (through translator): Not anymore. How can I? My legs don't work. I'd never be able to climb on that train again.
PENHAUL: Another young man whose limbs and dreams have been shattered.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Tapachula, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Remarkable reporting there, and it's part of Karl's coverage this week. He took us to the front lines of Mexico's drug war. The cascading violence that accompanies it is not only tearing the country apart, it's threatening an entire region.
On Monday, we showed you how ordinary people caught up in the crossfire are paying the price. On Tuesday, we got some insight into the art of survival, bodyguards in Mexico are professionally training to protect their clients, but some take their training and go to work for the drug lords. And Karl Penhaul, our correspondent based in Bogota, Colombia, joins us now.
From CNN Center, Karl, it really has been some remarkable coverage from you this week. Colombia has been, of course, fighting its own drug war for more than 30 years now. And the U.S. government -- the U.S. government has poured billions into that fight. What can Mexico learn from Colombia, do you think?
PENHAUL: I think there is a number of things that Mexico can learn, and I think there is a number things that Mexico shouldn't learn from Colombia. I think one of the things that Mexico can learn is in the instance of professionalizing the security forces.
Colombia still has a problem with corruption in the ranks of the security forces, but it is way, way better than it was during the times of Pablo Escobar, when Pablo Escobar practically called the shots over certain police forces. That's not happening now.
So the Mexicans have got to strive to do that, root out this rampant corruption so that police forces aren't fighting the fight on the side of the cartels rather than against the cartels. What Mexico should also learn from Colombia is that Plan Colombia, that fight to eradicate drugs in Colombia by pouring billions of dollars and militarizing the situation, that has not worked. The drug trade is still very much intact in Colombia.
The dynamics have changed, but that is not due to the billions of U.S. dollars poured into Colombia to fight the drug trade, or certainly only a very small part. It's more due to the freakonomics of the drug trade itself in that the Mexican cartels, as they've grown in power, as they've grown in financial power, have moved in on the Colombians' business.
The Mexicans are moving downstream into the fabrication of cocaine production. And they're also moving upstream and displacing gangs in the U.S.
Now there is the danger. The Mexicans have suddenly become so powerful. And that is something that the Colombians never saw to that extent. The Colombians were always using intermediaries. The Mexicans and then street gangs in the U.S. So that is a very different ballgame in terms of Mexico. And people really do have to understand that.
ANDERSON: Fascinating stuff. Karl Penhaul, we thank you for your reporting out of CNN Center for us this evening, rounding out that part of the show.
Well, 32 has been whittled down to 16. The World Cup Group Stage has come to an end. We're going to take a look at who has made it through to the Knockout Stage, which, of course, gets under way on Saturday. Going to take a very short break, back in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Right. You're back with CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. There is nothing more connective than football. Let's get to the World Cup then. It has got really interesting. The two matches that just ended were for the last two spaces left in the group of 16. Spain beating Chile 2-1, but both teams go forward to the next round. And the other Group H match, Switzerland and Honduras, played to a scoreless draw. Both teams go home.
And there is more. There were two other matches Friday. North Korea and Ivory Coast, Portugal and Brazil. I'm not going to give you the results of those. Let's get Alex those. He's down in Johannesburg.
Let's start off with Spain-Chile, which has just closed out -- Alex.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You're teasing the viewers, aren't you, Becky? Yes. The Group Stages are over. We now know all 16 countries through to the Knockout Stages. And the most recent match to finish involving Spain, who had a hiccup at the start of this tournament. Let's see how they finish their Group H against Chile.
And this match was taking place in Pretoria. Chilean keeper comes out of his line in the first half, he denies Torres, but David Villa takes advantage -- David Villa takes advantage of the open goal. A bit of goal- keeping blunder there.
And later in the first half, Spain again on the attack. David Villa on the left. A beautiful cross, and Andres Iniesta almost passes it into the goal. Very similar to Yaya Toure's goal earlier in the day. Spain 2- 0. Chile did come back in the second half, just two minutes after the break, and it was Millar who looped a shot in from the edge of the box. But that's how it stayed.
Spain winning 2-1. And as you said, Becky, Honduras and Switzerland played out a 0-0 draw in the other match. It means Spain, despite that opening loss to Switzerland, finished top of the group. And Chile come runners-up. And it means that Spain will go through for a match against Portugal next Tuesday in the round of 16, while Chile will face the mighty Brazilians on Monday.
ANDERSON: Well, good luck to both of them. What about the Ivory Coast?
THOMAS: Well, we were hoping for another Africa success, weren't we? I mean, that doesn't sound terribly neutral or impartial, but it would have been nice to have got someone alongside Ghana in the round of 16. Let's take a look at the action from their match at Nelspruit against North Korea, this one.
Elephants got off to a quick start. In a quarter of an hour Arthur Boka passes to Yaya Toure, I told you about him passing it into the net, a bit like Andres Iniesta later for Spain. The replay shows what a lovely finish it was. Perfect placement by Yaya Toure.
And the Ivory Coast doubled their lead just six minutes later. (INAUDIBLE) but the rebound fell to Romaric. And later on, a third goal just eight minutes from time. This time it was Salomon Kalou, the Chelsea player, on a substitute, 3-0 the victory for Ivory Coast.
It wasn't enough, though, Becky. They needed to turn around a nine- goal margin against Portugal. And the match between the Portuguese and Brazil in Durban finished 0-0. Blows the chances for Ivory Coast, though.
Look at this statistic. They had 28 shots, 15 on target. They had to win 9-0. It sounded impossible. They had the shots to do it. It didn't quite come up with them. It's Portugal and Brazil that goes through to the Knockout Stages.
ANDERSON: Was there a chant -- did you see (INAUDIBLE) on a wet Sunday morning, my goodness, the shame. All right. So Ghana going through as the only African team. But the Ivory Coast putting on a good show.
Alex, tremendous stuff, thanks for that. Have a good weekend. And we're looking forward to the game, of course, on Sunday. Let's not be partisan (ph) about that.
Coming up, a temporary ban on drilling following the Gulf catastrophe isn't stopping BP's latest projects. And wait until you hear why the project is exempt. Critics say the whole deal points to exactly what's wrong with the oil industry when it comes to oversight.
That, and your headlines coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, ANCHOR, CNN INTERNATIONAL: We are back with CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. It is, oh, 30 minutes past nine in London.
Coming up, while BP tries to clean up the Gulf spill, it has plans to start drilling in much colder waters, thousands of miles away. We're going to take a look at why the catastrophe off the US coast is having, well, very little impact elsewhere.
Well it's all about the food for our Connector of the Day. Let me tell you Anthony Bourdain has no time for vegetarians out there. There, after hearing what he's eaten on his travels, I might try it. And we check in with our World Cup Super Fans this evening. They respond to your comments on why old Europe is faring so badly. All those stories are ahead in the show. First, a very quick check of the headlines this hour, here.
The final spots are booked in the World Cup's Group of 16. Spain defeated Chile two-one. Both teams advance. Both Switzerland and Honduras will be heading home. Earlier group "G" wrapped up with Brazil and Portugal going forward.
World leaders are gathering in Canada for two key economic summits. The G8 began in Huntsville, north of Toronto. The two-day G20 Summit opens tomorrow in Toronto itself. Security, as you can imagine, is tight. Some protests are expected.
Well it's bad weather system is the latest concern that could hamper oil cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. You're looking at a system in the Caribbean that weather experts say could become a tropical depression over the weekend. Well BP meanwhile says it now knows where the leaking well is, relative to a relief well that it's drilled. The company says will take a lot more digging before the two intercept, and a leak is finally plugged.
So, for now, the future of drilling in the Gulf remains in doubt. But otherwise, it continues pretty much unabated around the world. And that includes a controversial plan off the coast of Alaska. That is by, you got it, BP. Brian Todd has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN TODD, CORRESPONDENT, CNN (voice over): The stark landscape of Alaska's Beaufort Sea. An area populated in winter by polar bears, and massive chunks of floating ice.
This is where BP is pursuing one of its most ambitious drilling plans ever. Undeterred by its disastrous bill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Arctic project is called Liberty. It's not covered by the government's temporary ban on deep water drilling, because the rig is on an artificial island made of gravel. An island developed by BP just a couple of miles from shore.
TODD (on camera): So technically, it's not in deep water. Only about 22 feet from surface to floor. But then BP plans on drilling another two miles down into the earth, then angling horizontally another six to eight miles to hit the liberty reservoir, where the company believes there's more than 100,000,000 barrels of oil. This technique is called Extended Reach drilling. It's been done before, but never this far.
TODD (voice-over): And there's debate over the risks. A 2004 document from the federal Minerals Management Service says ERD wells are more prone to kicks and lost circulation problems, than more conventional and vertical wells.
That refers to gas kicks, which occur when drilling mud can't overpower gas in the pipes. That could've been a key factor in the Deep Water Horizon blast. BP officials, and some outside experts, tell us extended reach wells are not more prone to gas kicks than standard wells. But environmentalists say what a gasket does occur in a horizontal drill:
DAVID PETTIT, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: The problem is that it's harder to detect. That is, the gas comes up the pipe more slowly.
A BP official we spoke to says that's not the case. And analyst Bill Murray from the group Energy Intelligence, agrees.
BILL MURRAY, ENERGY INTELLIGENCE: The longer the reach goes, you're going to have the indicators and sensors out where ever the pipe is laid.
But Murray has other questions about how the Liberty Project was allowed to go forward.
TODD (on camera): What's your main issue with the project though? Is it the regulation, and the lack of oversight here?
MURRAY: What we see is, you know, the regulations indeed have been a bit outsourced towards the companies. As MMS, some of the federal scientists involved have said. Then it is a problem. You can't really allow any industry to self regulate.
TODD: He points to documents from 2007.
MURRAY: It's pretty click and paste to me.
TODD: That's when federal regulators allowed BP to write an environmental review of the project, and let that stand on its own, without doing their own report. That was first reported in the New York Times.
We did our own comparison of those documents. The environmental review from the Minerals Management Service is almost identical to BPs, which was published six months earlier.
Michael Bromwich, newly installed to reform MMS under a new name, says its standard for companies to write their own reviews, but that MMS should've done its own independent study.
MICHAEL BROMWICH, BUREAU OF OCEAN AND ENERGY: I am troubled by the suggestion that that was not done here. That is what I'm going to get to the bottom of.
TODD: At the same time, Bromwich and his agency will be closely watching the Liberty Project going forward. A spokeswoman for the Department of the Interior issued a statement saying, in light of the BP oil spill in the Gulf, and new safety requirements, we will be reviewing the adequacy of the current version of the Liberty Project's spill plan.
TODD (on camera): BP officials we spoke with say they are committed to taking every safety precaution in this project, to prevent a blowout. And they say that by using this extended reach horizontal drilling, they are minimizing their environmental footprint in that area. They say they hope to start extracting oil from that well next year. Brian Todd, CNN Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well Alaska's north coast is just one area around the globe where oil lurks beneath the seas, deep beneath the seas.
We're joined now by Don Van Nieuwenhuise, who is a professor of Petroleum Geoscience at the University of Houston. Joining us now. On top of that he spent nearly two decades in research and worldwide exploration. It's a job that took him to more than 40 countries, from the North Sea to China to Latin America.
Sir, we thank you for joining us. Now that we know that there are no systems, no systems in place to prevent the sort of oil spill and, mop up that we've seen in the Gulf of Mexico, how can the industry justify continuing to drill in deep water?
PROFESSOR DON VAN NIEUWENHUISE, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: I think the main justification, of course, is the overwhelming size of the reserves. And of course the fact that safety record overall is very good. This is a major accident that we've had.
ANDERSON: Right.
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: A catastrophic accident. And I don't think that it's something that has happened because the systems cannot handle it. It probably happened due to some--
ANDERSON: Right.
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: --oversight in overlooking some of the details that needed to be taken care of up front..
ANDERSON: So you're talking about, you're talking about basic cost-benefit analysis. We're better off ultimately going forward, making money out of deep-sea water, because we're not really seeing the costs that are associated.
You say that, you know, in fact the industry isn't accident prone. But it also hasn't done a lot of drilling at 5000 meters, and indeed at 10,000 meters. So how do we know it's not going to go wrong going forward?
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: Well, we don't know that for sure. But absolutely the safety measures have been tried in a lot of different wells. There's been tens if not hundreds of wells that have been drilled in relatively deep water. And the safety record has been extremely good.
And this event that we've had is catastrophic. It should never of happened. But it has happened. And I think what's important is that we make sure that the regulations and the people doing the oversight make sure that none of these sorts of things could possibly happen again in the future.
ANDERSON: Well, you can't-
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: And I think that's where you need to manage the risk.
ANDERSON: Well you, you, can't ensure it's not going to happen in the future. The industry knows that. And we know that now, because we're watching this event unfold. Given the fact then that nothing changes, what if anything have learned from the BP debacle?
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: Well, we've learned is that we do need to, like some other countries do have, they have equipment ready and available to send out to start kill operations right away. They can save a lot of time that way. And they can shorten the length of time that you have a blowout. We have had a worse blowout than this in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Ixtoc well, offshore Mexico.
And of course within a year a good percentage of the damage had already cleared up. So, it's not necessarily the end of the world. It is something that we do not want to see repeated, of course.
And, the equipment, uh, failed, and it probably did not fail because it's not capable of functioning, it was not maintained properly, and it was not operated properly. And it's sort of, if someone is a poor pilot, you don't shut down the entire air industry because of that. Of course, a plane crash is disastrous, but it's not as big as what we're seeing here in terms of environmental damage.
ANDERSON: All right, with that we're going to leave it there. We thank you so for on a Friday evening joining us here on CONNECT THE WORLD, to join the dots in what is an extremely important story. Your expert on the subject tonight.
Well our next guest has plenty of advice about life. Some of it not exactly tactful, or rather, tasteful. He's eaten sheep testicles, and believes vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit. Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain is your "Connector of the Day," up next. His thoughts. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL)
ANDERSON: In the world of celebrity chefdom, Anthony Bourdain is in a league of his own. The foodie is admired and feared alike, for his cutting tongue and culinary courage. He first shot to fame with his best- selling memoir "Kitchen Confidential, Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, " in which he gave an inside peek into some of cooking's most risque sides.
Today he's out with his new book, entitled "Medium Raw," a bloody valentine to the world of food and the people who cook it. It spares no one, as he slices away at the new culture of celebrity chefs. But as the host of his own TV show, Bourdain can take it, as well as dish it out. Whether it's for an entree or a catchphrase, one can't help but notice him. Anthony Bourdain is your "Connector of the Day."
ANDERSON: And I spoke earlier with them and asked them whether his new book was a continuation of his infamous "Kitchen Confidential."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOURDAIN: Um, examining how my life has changed in the last 10 years since I wrote that book, and how the life of the chef, and how the restaurant business itself has been transformed in the last 10 years.
ANDERSON: And how has it?
BOURDAIN: Chefs, you know, being a chef is a glamorous profession now. There's a lot more prestige attached. People, the general dining public, actually care what the chef thinks. And that's sort of a, that's a major shift in the landscape of cooking and dining.
ANDERSON: In your latest book, Anthony, you're quite vocal about TV chefs, saying that they're not real chefs. What's your beef?
BOURDAIN: Well I don't think it's a matter of whether you're a real chef or not. I mean Julia Child was not a real chef, but she was good for the world, she made us all aspire to cook better, to eat better. To not be afraid of French cooking. She raised us up.
I guess my beef is with people who have dumbed down cooking, disrespected food, and turned it into really about making people feel better about themselves, but in no way inspiring them to cook.
ANDERSON: Would you take the criticism that you're a part of all that, given that you are, after all, a TV chef?
BOURDAIN: I., I think the book is very much about that. I've become part of the problem.
ANDERSON: What is the strangest thing that you've ever eaten?
BOURDAIN: Oh, man, strangest thing? I don't know. I can tell you that the, the fermented shark that they eat, the rotten shark in Iceland, is pretty unpleasant. And I guess that would qualify as strange. And I won't be, I won't be revisiting that dish.
ANDERSON: You've also eaten seal eyeballs, and warthog rectum, what was that like?
BOURDAIN: That was not so wonderful. Sometimes you really--to be a good guest as you travel around the world, a lot, often very poor people are offering you their very best. Sometimes you just have to take one for the team.
ANDERSON: Sherri: When the cameras stop rolling and you are home and tired, what is your go-to comfort food?
BOURDAIN: I like making a simple, one pot dish like pasta. A very simple pasta. Or maybe a stew, like a beef Bourguignon, something like that. Nothing too fancy.
ANDERSON: Fancy for the rest of us. Listen, Anthony, Christine has written to us. She says, how do you balance work and life?
BOURDAIN: It's, it's tough. What I--you'll notice a suspiciously large number of shows in and around Western Europe and Italy these days. My wife's Italian, and I, I bring the family along.
ANDERSON: Andy said, from your vast journeys around the world, what have you found to be the perfect complement to have alongside a pint of beer? You're not going to find it in Italy, of course, I don't suppose.
BOURDAIN: Well, something spicy. You know, you can hardly do better than a whole roasted pig.
ANDERSON: And where you going to find that, Germany?
BOURDAIN: Um, actually Puerto Rico they do very good Lechon there. Bali, Indonesia is a little bit better. But the prince of pigs I would say is the Philippines.
ANDERSON: Goof stuff. All right. I had no idea. Listen you've always been really disparaging of vegetarians. Do not buy the health or environmental benefits that come with it?
BOURDAIN: No. I mean my feeling is this, if I have one virtue it's that I'm curious. I have a curiosity about this world, that I'm grateful for the opportunity to travel around and see other places and see other cultures. I feel compelled to try absolutely everything I can, in the limited time I have a live on this planet.
So that's the reason for me to, to want to eat everything in sight beyond vegetables. Also, I think it's frankly rude, to find yourself in the developing world and have somebody, as happens often, offer you a food containing an animal protein. It would be rude to turn up your nose and say, well, maybe, do you have it in--do you have a spinach salad?
That, that--you're not making any friends that way. I, I respect what vegetarians do in the privacy of their own home, but as it relates to travel I think it's better to--you know I would prefer to violate my principles and be a good guess.
ANDERSON: Right. And not also I guess in your restaurant. If I walk into your restaurant and ordered a spinach salad, would you kick me out?
BOURDAIN: Well, no, of course not. We accommodate you. But you'd get the idea very quickly walking into Les Halles that that you're in the wrong restaurant. I mean there is a butcher counter five feet away from the door.
ANDERSON: A question from Patricia. She asks, what's your latest death row meal? And what or where have you been lately that you are excited about? I can't wait for this one.
BOURDAIN: Well, it used to be--my death row meal was at St. John restaurant in London, a roasted bone marrow, a little bone marrow spread on toast with some sea salt. But these days it's a restaurant in New York called Marea, I am very excited about. It's a little disc of, a little crouton, with some fat sacks of uni, sea urchin roe, and over-the-top a gossamer thin sheet of semi-melted lardo. That's some good eating.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And you'd think I'd have swung a meal with him at some point, but I didn't. Not that good. Another great "Mix of Connects" is lined up for you next week. And just like chef Bourdain, many are pushing the boundaries in their field. That's what our "Connects of the Day" do.
Among them Oliver Stone, the controversial filmmaker who brought us the likes of "JFK," "Wall Street," and "Platoon." He'll be joining us next week part of--part, that's the part of the show that's yours. So do stay connected. Head to the Website CNN.com/connect tonight. We'll be right back after this.
(COMMERCIAL)
ANDERSON: Well the deep-sea oracle of football Paul the Octopus is proving quite the pundit, correctly predicting the winner of each match Germany has played so far this World Cup.
How? Well, Paul chooses food from one of two containers lowered by his German keepers. He's reached his verdict on Sunday's big European clash. And unfortunately for England fans, likes the taste of Germany. Well that's one way to make a wager.
Another is to consult our "Super Fans." Producer of the documentary "Soka Africa," Simon Laub, joins me onset with his wrap of the week. First though, I spoke to the director of the new documentary "Football Fables," Baff Akoto a little earlier on. And I began by asking him if he was, well it was a pretty stupid question. But whether he was proud of his beloved Ghana.
BAFF AKOTO, DIRECTOR,"FOOTBALL FABLES": Very. Very. Just a badge, everybody. No, I mean Ghana has done the whole continent proud. In a funny way, you know, it's a shame that they're the only African team left. But all throughout the tournament they, they are the most competitive, consistently competitive of the Africans. ANDERSON: Let me talk about one of the matches today. Brazil and Portugal. Now I was expecting a master class in football. And we, well we certainly didn't get that. I thought it was a turgid game. What do you think?
AKOTO: It was, I mean nil-nil belies what was going on. Because, I mean, I was, I slipped them through. I was watching the Cote d'Ivoire on the other side. Because they had slim a shot of really upsetting the bookmakers and going through. I mean they would've had to have scored at least, what, six goals by my count?
ANDERSON: Yeah.
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: And, Brazil would've had to have put down Portugal. So it was thoroughly enthralling.
ANDERSON: At, at least Portugal as part of what we call old Europe, I guess these days are through. I mean, I've been Tweeting this week about what has happened to Old Europe, as far as football is concerned. Let me use the word cack (ph) is what I use. Slippers maybe. I mean listen, France and Italy.
Let me give you some of these Tweets. I've got one from Faisey Becky (ph), it's good for football that we've got someone else challenging the old guard of football. I just wish it were the African teams. Well actually you've got an African team in this as we've just been discussing.
Ernest has written. He says, in 2006, France-Italy met in the finals. Now in 2010 they meet at the airport. What? I mean England and Germany just only scraped through.
AKOTO: They got the talent, but, I think they're just caving in under the pressure. The psychological pressure of bringing it, and performing, and living up to their reputations. When you're looking at the, the Germans, you know they've got a new squad they've gotten rid of a lot of their old players.
Whereas the French and the Italians they stuck by their old players. And they've suffered for it. But, um, I mean taking all these factors into account, you just have to remember historically, European teams just don't travel well in World Cups. No European team has ever won a World Cup outside the continent of Europe. So I mean that's a big part of the reason why I'm tipping the Brazilians. Because they're the only ones who've won a World Cup on the road, as it were.
ANDERSON: Right. He's tipping the Brazilians. I don't know if we can just remind ourselves who all of us were tipping. Simon included. I was, well I called Switzerland out the hat, so I'm out already. But I was tipping Tevis for the Golden Boot.
Let's see if we can bring up a little graphic for you, to show you what Simon and Baff were tipping. Baff was tipping Brazil. All right. And he admits to that. Then he was tipping Van Persie for the Golden Boot. Now he's changed his mind, all of a sudden. Let's bring up what Baff--we got it there, were bringing up what bath was tipping. And what were you tipping?
SIMON LAUBB, PRODUCER, "SOKA AFRICA": Um, I went for Spain and David Villa. Who I am very happy with. And I'm sticking to. No changing for me, so Bath, sort it out.
ANDERSON: All right. Let's take a look at that Spain game, shall we. Because we've been talking about old Europe. I mean they really haven't performed as well as we might have expected. Spain no games for you tonight. Good game.
LAUBB : Yeah they did. I think there's been for me personally, it's been fascinating, exciting. You know we've talked about the old Europe. And I think, I think it's very interesting to note that, you know, France were knocked out by little Bafana Bafana, and Italy were knocked out by Slovakia, and I think it's really encouraging to the world game.
ANDERSON: I've got some Tweets here. Shafuru (ph) says, No European country has ever won the World Cup outside of Europe. They can't adapt foreign cultural phenomenon like the Vuvuzela. Altojelativ (ph) says, countries are putting more resources into their football clubs, and playing with heart. And not to protect their status. I'm not sure about that. When you put this wane of old European football down to yourself?
LAUBB: Um, I have a slightly different take than perhaps a few other people. I, I truly believe that what we've seen in this World Cup is that there no easy games anymore. The difference between the best team in the World Cup and the worst team who's qualified has shrunk vastly.
And like I was saying before, I think it's really encouraging for world football and for the fans. You know, no one likes to see the favorites win every single time. It's interesting and we'll see some.
ANDERSON: I'd love to see Argentina win, only because it's been an absolute joy to watch Maridona legging up and down. I mean he loves to get--he loves the game. Give me a bet on England-Germany, just to be partisan for the moment. England-Germany Sunday.
LAUBB: Um, partisan I'm going to say England. And if I'm not being partisan I'll probably say England, but in reality, it's going to be a very tight game. It's going to be tough. We know about the history-- ANDERSON: Right. Will it go to pens, that's a point, because with the history, it settles it, and we lose-
LAUBB: I hope not. But we'll see. We'll see. I have a feeling that it won't but we'll see.
ANDERSON: Oh, you're so optimistic. Oh good luck. Simon's with you, Bath was in Switzerland for us tonight. They're your "Super Fans." We'll be right back. Thank you Simon.
(COMMERICAL)
ANDERSON: Jubilation on the streets of Tokyo as the Blue Samurai claimed victory in their World Cup clash against the Danish team.
Japan football fans were ecstatic over their teams three-one triumph on Thursday that propelled them into the last 16 for the first time on foreign soil. The celebrations on home turf going well beyond dawn, we're told.
Well for Danish ex-pats in Tokyo it was a case of great expectations dashed. There were--there was plenty of hype in the lead up to the clash, and that was largely thanks to Denmark's ambassador in Japan. And I- reporter Franz Michael Skoldmelvin, take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Welcome to the Danish embassy. I'm the Danish ambassador. Tonight we're going to have a soccer party.
It's going to be really exciting, I'm looking so much forward to this evening. All of Japan is excited, all of Denmark is excited. I think it's going to be a great match.
It's, it's extra exciting because it's the final match. It's going to decide who's going to go and who's going to stay in the group, and who's left behind.
So, extra excitement for tonight's game. And very good Japanese can live with a draw, Denmark has to win. So we will have to put forward and we're going to see lots of goals tonight.
First of going to have a big scene, screen, here in the scene. We're going to have a lot of audience. 350 people will be here tonight. We're going to have robotic soccer, with a live feed from South Africa, to people here. Japanese here in Japan will be playing robot soccer against Danes in South Africa live.
Here it Japan we're going to start very late, so we're going to start at midnight and end up with breakfast in the morning.
So dinner at 12 o'clock, and breakfast at six. We're also going to have some displays there's a huge Lego Stadium which we have here tonight also. And thousands of small mini-figs, and of course we will also be doing some things with our sponsors and there'll be a lot of media attention.
ANDERSON: It was all wasted. They got booted out. Nevermind. That was the Danish ambassador to Japan, and his iReport ahead of the game, of course.
I'm Becky Anderson. That is Your World, Connected, this Friday. Back Story is up next, right after this check of headlines.
END
